Modern Mysteries

'2001' monolith in Utah has now disappeared

By T.K. Randall
November 30, 2020

Image: Utah Desert Monolith
Credit: Patrick A. Mackie (adjusted by Chainwit) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Last week we reported that a helicopter pilot who had been helping wildlife resource officers count bighorn sheep in Utah had discovered a real-life version of the mysterious monolith featured in Arthur C. Clarke's science-fiction masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey'.

Crafted from solid metal, the artefact, which was situated in a remote rocky outcropping, appeared to have been planted in the ground deliberately, perhaps as some sort of modern art piece.

Since them, officials have revealed that the artefact has in fact completely disappeared after being removed from the site by 'an unknown party'.

"We have received credible reports that the illegally installed structure, referred to as the 'monolith' has been removed from Bureau of Land Management public lands by an unknown party," they wrote."The BLM did not remove the structure which is considered private property. We do not investigate crimes involving private property which are handled by the local sheriff's office."

"The structure has received international and national attention and we received reports that a person or group removed it on the evening of Nov. 27."

Some visitors to the site have since claimed that the object was actually stolen and that they had seen a pickup truck carrying something away from the scene, however this has yet to be confirmed.

As for who put it there in the first place - nobody seems to know.

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Monolith